Chairman in Waiting

Recently selected as one of the 100 Global Leaders of Tomorrow (GLT) by world Economic Forum, Siddharth SJB Ran is widely expected to take over as the chairman of Soaltee Group, perhaps the most professionally managed business conglomerate of Nepal.

President of Soaltee Group (P) Ltd. since 1998, thus being the second in the organizational hierarchy below his father Prabhakar SJB Rana, Siddharth worked for Nepal Arab Bank Ltd., Nepal Grindlays Bank Ltd. and Barclays Global services at various capacities between 1991 and 1994 and did consultancy for Lawrie Group of UK eventually being instrumental in developing Soaltee Group's collaboration with Lawrie Group in Nepal's tea sector.

Despite the long experience he has gained working at different rungs of organisational hierarchy in various organisations within his own Group and outside, both at home and abroad, junior Rana is still not sure whether he becomes the chairman of his Group as when his father retires at the end of this year. " It'll be a little premature now to think that I would take over as the chairman of the Group the group companies and their respective boards would have to make that choice", he says.

Irrespective of what would happen at the end of the year, junior Rana says his priorities will remain agriculture, tourism and infrastructure sectors, the areas in which the Group is presently concentrated. "Even in my present capacity as the president of the Group, one of the challenges is to keep the business growing. And primarily we would like to see ourselves concentrate on infrastructure related business such as energy generation which is critical to any developing country."

Soaltee Group has been the first private sector Nepali organisation to enter energy generation and its unit Himal International Power Company (P) Ltd (HIPC) is operating the 36-MW Bhote Koshi Power Project in joint venture with a US partner. "We also look forward to the days when we can also engage ourselves in distribution and transmission. I think, export of energy is still viable," says the HIPC Executive Director hinting at his vision for the future.

Claiming that his Group looks at investments almost like a venture capital company, Rana says "We identify business segments within the economy to engage ourselves as investors and then hand over the management to professionals. We believe that our success has come, and will continue to come, from very strong joint ventures. Because, firstly, we lack the financial muscles required, secondly, we lack certain managerial skill, and thirdly, we lack the technology and expertise. We have found it extremely useful to have partners who bring these elements into the partnership."

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